ART, a play by Yasmina Reza

Chenango River Theatre's production of ART by Yasmina Reza (translated by Christopher Hampton). Recorded opening night, August 26, 2022. Archival purposes only; no ownership claimed.
Marc/Drew Kahl
Serge/Zach Curtis
Yvan/ Joey Sponseller
Director/Craig Johnson
Stage Manager/Isabel Mendoza
Set/Justin Hooper
Costumes/Barbara Kahl
Lights/Julie Duro
Sound/Composer/Alex Jashinski
A couple of fun production elements that worked well for us:
1. The flipping paintings -- these turned out nicely as a way to quickly distinguish the different apartments, and especially to accommodate the movement of the white painting. Reza doesn't seem to allow enough dialogue to justify the time that someone might need to move a large, expensive artwork. For me, the flips extend the magical realism.
2. The Mona Lisa & props reveal! There are just a couple props referenced in the script...but, like moving the painting, they always seem to have them immediately. The actors (usually Serge) put the next prop in place so when the sliding door was opened the props magically was on display--almost like a museum vitrine. I like that the Mona Lisa is giving the audience her sly smile--as if to say, "you want art? I'm art."
3. I like the music Alex composed -- we had worked in summerstock the previous summer when he was still in school and it was fun to give him his first professional composition and sound credit. I like the nods to the French National anthem, the Pink Panther theme, and Sunday in the Park With George. Plus, the French have a fondness for American jazz so the saxophone seemed right.